“..In the year the Christian calendar calls AD 632, a schism even greater than the Reformation was to produce engulfed Islam. Its two great forces, the Sunnis and the Shi’ites, became irrevocably divided. The Shi’ites insisted that the leadership of Islam should have remained in the Prophet’s family and, upon his death, they had pledged their support to Mohammed’s cousin, Ali, who became Caliph or successor to the Prophet.”
– Gordon Thomas, Journey into Madness

“One of the most successful secret societies which the Shi’as founded was centered around the Abode of Learning in Cairo, which was the training-ground for fanatics who were conditioned by the most cunning methods to believe in a special divine mission. In order to do this, the original democratic Islamic ideas had to be overcome by skilled teachers, acting under the orders of the Caliph of the Fatimites, who ruled Egypt at that time.”– Arkon Daraul, Secret Societies